Is This the Year

by Adam Heggenstaller

Executive Editor, Shooting Illustrated

This could be the year. Waiting for daythe dayto break, your anticipation is so high your thoughts nearly become whispers. In a few minutes it will be a brand new deer season, a fresh start. The possibilities are as endless as the miles between you and the sun that seems to be taking forever to rise.

This could be the year everything goes right, when before noon you're looking over your shoulder at 10 high points of bone as you lean into the drag rope. You found the giant over Labor Day weekend, after you and some buddies put the new porch on your camp. He was standing at the edge of a nasty, blackberry-choked clear-cut no one dared enter. Except you. An hour ago you slipped into his hiding spot, creeping along the old logging road discovered on your third scouting trip, and in the chilly darkness you silently settled into your blind. The wind was perfect.

Maybe it's the year you kill your first buck. Somehow you just know it will be a big one. For more than half your 12-year lifetime, you've waited for this moment. What used to be just another day off school, provided by the district so older kids and teachers could hunt, now has real purpose. Before you merely listened to hunting stories; after today you'll be telling them. Grandpa's sitting on the other side of the treethis is his favorite spot. It's now yours, too.

It might be the year Dad finally fills his tag again. Too many seasons have passed since his last buck, and climbing mountains doesn't get any easier on a hunter in his 60s. But he's still out here, now following in your footsteps, waiting for his chance. He even bought new camo this year. Smiling through the sweat glistening on a beard more white than gray, he lets you know it's always worth the struggle.

Maybe this will be the year you take the first doe that wanders by, because times are tough and backstrap is not. You have just one day to hunt, not even a full one at that, and as a provider you're going to make the most of it. You wonder what your 3-year-old will think when he sees the glazed-over eyes of what will become this winter's meals. You hope he'll be curious and brave enough to run his fingers over the sleek hide, and pray you'll have a good answer when he asks why the animal is no longer breathing.

No matter your thoughts, your plans, your dreams on this opening day of deer season, let your mind revel in the unknownon what could happen. A chance at success in the deer woodsand never a guarantee of itis why we're out here in the first place.

Did You Know?

Set up active decoys where you don't want geese to land. Use sleeping and resting decoys to signal the area has been checked out and it's safe enough to drop in and nap.

Introducing the Laramie Longhorn —The 2011 Ram Laramie Longhorn sets a new standard for luxury trucks. From high-end exterior treatments to rich, well-appointed interiors, experience the ultimate in truck craftsmanship and comfort. To find out more about the Ram Laramie Longhorn visit www.ramtruck.com/longhorn.

Check out your favorite rodeo star and the latest Ram trucks at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Dec. 2-11. Ram has been a proud sponsor of NFR for 30 years and we expect this year to be another exciting finals competition.

Ram continues "Letters for Lyrics"and its quest to send 1 million letters to soldiers. You can now write your letter electronically at www.ramtrucks.com/lettersforlyrics, and in return you can receive a free CD, "Breaking Southern Ground." This exclusive compilation, not sold in stores, features Southern Ground Artists Zac Brown Band, Sonia Leigh, Nic Cowan and Levi.

Like the fossilized skeletons of its ancestors displayed in the Smithsonian, a 12-foot alligator can be scary even when it's dead—something that Shooting Illustrated's Adam Heggenstaller learned in person during a gator hunt in Florida. Read More »

The 2011 Ram Laramie Longhorn sets a new standard for luxury trucks. From high-end exterior treatments to rich... Read More »

50

Running speed in mph of both a leopard and lion

200

Deaths of humans per year caused by lions

500

Deaths of humans per year caused by elephants

0-5

Deaths of humans per year caused by rhinos

4,000

Number of black rhinos remaining in the wild

25

Number of feet a leopard can leap

$40,000-$100,000

The cost to hunt a lion in any of the classic destinations

30 to 50

Gallons of water consumed daily by an elephant

fast fact

The cackling goose, a smaller-bodied goose prominent in Canada and Alaska, is a tundra-breeder with considerably more black plumage than the Canada. At one time, the cackling goose was considered the smallest subspecies of the Canada, but is now recognized as a separate species.